Optimize Flash and Flex content

 Ramblings, Server, XenApp  No Responses »
Mar 272012
 

So you have decided to bring a dinosaur out of the bag and use Adobe Flex over HTML5 or some of the more advanced .NET and ASP code to display your user interface (web). First, please at least understand the user interface has come a long way in the last 4 years. Microsoft has focused a tremendous amount of time on the interface as it pertains to displaying data sourced from databases.  In essence, datagrids have come a long way from the first .net release, and so have web technologies.

With XenApp 6.0 and 6.5 at hand to deliver the content over ICA.  The first question is – How do I optimize Adobe/Flex over ICA? The concept seems simple right? It is but you may also be in a upwards battle as foolish architects question your approach. Let’s stop babbling and dive in!

Here are a few things to take into consideration: Continue reading “Optimize Flash and Flex content” »

 Posted by T.Mims at 4:41 pm  Tagged with: , ,

Planning for 64 bit migration?

 Business Technology, My Diatribe, Ramblings  1 Response »
Feb 142012
 

I had a brief very technical conversation with a colleague (and mentor) this morning which resulted in us talking about the overall adaption (or lack thereof) of 64 bit platforms both in the public and private sectors. Consumer markets are making significant gains, but corporations internally are lagging. Or are they? The next 5 years of major corporate spending in technical resources and platform deployments will be amazing but we have several challenges to overcome. And several questions to answer in no perticular order.

How long before 32bit is finally considered outdated?

  • 32 bit will be remain for quite some time. Think of how long it took us to get over 16bit applications? There needs to be a complete segregation of the 32bit and 64bit platforms. Right now 32 and 64 bit is caught up in a mesh where the interconnections and dependencies are creating issues.  Virtualization needs to be considered for legacy 32bit platforms. And only until dependency on 32bit has been relinquished will we be on a better spot.

Who develops the curriculum for Computer Science majors?

  • With exception of a few, colleges are not properly instructing prospect programmers.  Students complain about having to learn Fortran, but don’t understand the strict rules lends to better coding later in life (John Backus would be furious). Focus and API and security need to be further leveraged from the beginning. So back to the question, is the appropriate answer Industry? Is the push for newer coding technique creating sloppy graduates? Have others figured out the secret sauce?

What about the Economy?

  • Perhaps people are not willing to update hardware and software computing platforms to 64 bit simply because of the economy over the past few years. After all, preserving jobs and capital gains should be the focus in any economic downturn. Corporations and a small percentage of the consumer population are indeed updating: The private and public sectors have cut back on technology spending and technical resources over the past few years and now it’s time for them to play ‘catch-up’.

Proper resource utilization:

  • Anybody can do a Google search. Corporations need to further leverage its existing resources. The smart, technology oriented people still working within the corporate rankings are more valuable now than ever when it comes to leveraging the fine mixture of earning capital and investing in the proper technology.

Watch out for technology:

  • All technology providers boast amazing returns on your investments (ROI). Take any ROI with a grain of salt. Proof of concept is extremely valuable and should be done with internal resources only and not require any assistance by the vendor. Cloud offerings may not be the best solution but need to be considered. Push for 64 bit with any investment, this will only benefit gains in the future.

If anything, the above is something to take into consideration. Ultimately migration strategy depends only on the requirements at hand. We need to leverage expertise, apply filters where needed, and plan accordingly with a focus on security. Otherwise, we create more work for ourselves. Cheers.

 Posted by T.Mims at 3:51 pm  Tagged with: , , ,

Cable bill too high

 My Diatribe, Ramblings  No Responses »
Feb 112012
 

The time was long past due, I’ve been considering it for quite some time. I needed to dump my enormous $175 cable bill and I did just that. I never needed the whole home DVR and I surly didn’t need a cable box in every room either. I left the internet but as far as I was concerned, everything else could go. Including the 5 year old broken remote control that was held together by duct tape.

bad serviceIt was a good feeling telling the cable people there was nothing they could do to keep my service. It was almost empowering! Now to be fair, I did keep the basic cable package which consists of about 11 local channels for about $8 per month. I could have used an over the air HD receiver with rabbit ears for HD content but figured the price was not worth it.

Was the change hard to get over? Absolutely! But after layering in Netflix, Hulu Plus, and Amazon Streaming.  I was good to go.

Here are the details on my home network:

  • Internet connection: 30MB down and 10MB up.
  • Wireless N connectivity
  • Windows 7 64bit (laptop/PC)
  • Sony Blue-ray Player w/LAN connectivity
  • Apple iPad (first generation)

Here is the details and cost breakout of my current setup:

  • Netflix: Streaming only. $7.99 per month
  • Hulu Plus. $7.99 per month
  • Vonage. $14.99 per month
  • Basic Cable: $8.00 per month
  • iTunes for random purchases (Portlandia, etc…)

Dislikes:

  • iTunes video purchases: I quickly found out it’s not a good idea to purchase TV shows and expect to watch them on your blue ray play over USB. Nor does it work attempting to stream from Windows 7 Media. Apple plops in a security feature for videos (file extension .m4v) and unless you want to tool around with video playback software to convert from .m4v to .mp4 or other video formats, its completely worthless unless you fork over <$100 for an Apple TV device. I guess this is my fault, I just figured you could easily copy over the video file like you can with mp3′s.
  • Amazon streaming service: This was a cure to my iTunes video blues, all I needed to do was log into my Amazon account and link my Blue-ray device with Amazon, set a pin for purchases and i was able to watch HD content. Of course it was at a cost. It was $2.99 to watch the first episode/second season of Downton Abbey. Well worth the ease of use although I’m still upset that I could not get my money back from iTunes. Who wants to watch Downton Abbey on an iPad or an iPhone? Not me. I can stand a 30 minute show on the train but nothing longer than that.
  • Netflix: I love Netflix! Nothing more to say about that.
  • Hulu Plus: Hulu is decent, but don’t decide to watch anything in your queue between the hours of 7PM and 9PM. The service and streaming is completely horrible. Choppy and lots of clocking. Hulu has a lot of improving to do if they want to keep my service and I’m giving them 1 more month or I’m cutting them off. Oh, and the advertisements are horrible!
  • Commercials: the ability to DVR content and fast forward through commercials was very convenient.

Ultimately the choice is yours. It was indeed difficult to give up some of the stations I liked to watch but overall I believe the quality of life for my whole family is better. the extra money we saved on the cable bill is always a good thing and can be used to pay for movies and shows not already on Hulu or Netflix.

 Posted by T.Mims at 10:36 pm  Tagged with: , ,
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